Facility would allow passengers easier access across border to Tijuana airport, but project still faces hurdles

Education: A degree in economics and business sciences from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Residence: Guadalajara, Mexico.

Family: Married, with four adult children.

Title: CEO since 2010 of the holding company Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP), which runs Tijuana’s A.L. Rodríguez International Airport and 11 other airports in Mexico.

Professional experience: Has spent his career in the airport industry, starting in 1976 in Spain’s Federal Aviation and Transportation Department. Worked in the private sector for companies that develop and operate airports, including the Spanish engineering conglomerate Ferrovial. Previous positions included CEO of MBJ Airports Limited in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Tijuana airport: By the numbers

3,750,000: projected passenger total for this year (fifth-busiest in Mexico).

Projected number of passengers who would use the future binational bridge — to and from Tijuana airport — during its initial phase.

59

Percentage of airport’s passengers who cross U.S.-Mexico border (traveling to or from California)

31

Flight destinations — 29 in Mexico and two international (Tokyo and Shanghai). Occasional flights to Havana, depending on demand.

A.L. Rodríguez International Airport in Tijuana has recently undergone extensive remodeling. Fernando Bosque Mohino says a cross-border facility for passengers would increase use of the airport by making it easier to get there. JOHN GIBBINS • U-T

A.L. Rodríguez International Airport in Tijuana has recently undergone extensive remodeling. Fernando Bosque Mohino says a cross-border facility for passengers would increase use of the airport by making it easier to get there. JOHN GIBBINS • U-T

Operators of Tijuana's airport say they are getting ready to carry out major upgrades of their international terminal to accomodate a planned cross-border pedestrian border crossing for ticketed airline passengers linking to a processing facility in Otay Mesa. JOHN GIBBINS • U-T

Operators of Tijuana's airport say they are getting ready to carry out major upgrades of their international terminal to accomodate a planned cross-border pedestrian border crossing for ticketed airline passengers linking to a processing facility in Otay Mesa. JOHN GIBBINS • U-T

Tijuana airport has recently undergone extensive remodeling in an effort for a more enjoyable travel experience. There are also plans to connect the airport with a terminal on the US side. This is the view looking west from the top of the airport parking structure with the Tijuana International airport at left and the US border to the right.

Tijuana airport has recently undergone extensive remodeling in an effort for a more enjoyable travel experience. There are also plans to connect the airport with a terminal on the US side. This is the view looking west from the top of the airport parking structure with the Tijuana International airport at left and the US border to the right.

San Diego, CA_11/26/2012_ Fernando Bosque is the head of a consortium that owns a dozen airports across Mexico, including the one in Tijuana. John Gastaldo/U-T San Diego/Mandatory Credit: John Gastaldo/UT-San Diego/Zuma Press

San Diego, CA_11/26/2012_ Fernando Bosque is the head of a consortium that owns a dozen airports across Mexico, including the one in Tijuana. John Gastaldo/U-T San Diego/Mandatory Credit: John Gastaldo/UT-San Diego/Zuma Press

TIJUANA  Fernando Bosque Mohino is chief executive of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP), a holding company based in Guadalajara that operates the A.L. Rodríguez International Airport in Tijuana and 11 other airports across Mexico.

Bosque is a key player in the development of a privately owned, cross-border facility to be used exclusively by ticketed airline passengers who pay a toll. Those users would be allowed to cross directly between San Diego and Tijuana through a 525-foot pedestrian bridge linking the Tijuana airport to a 45,000-square-foot terminal in Otay Mesa.

Bosque was interviewed during a visit to Tijuana and San Diego this week. Despite some hurdles and delays, he said the plan is moving forward.

The U.S. development group that is spearheading the project, Otay-Tijuana Ventures LLC, is in negotiations with U.S. Customs and Border Protection over issues that include who would pay the salaries of federal officers assigned to the facility.

In Tijuana, GAP has been fighting legal challenges from the municipal government: Mayor Carlos Bustamante has said he won’t grant a land-use permit for the project until the company pays overdue property taxes.

Bosque said the only permit he needs is from Mexico’s federal government, and that GAP hopes to begin construction by April.

Q: Why did GAP decide to participate in this project?

A: This is an idea that is more than 20 years old. It’s good for the region, it’s good for Tijuana to have more connections so that people can travel to more places. This is not just something that’s needed on one side of the border. It’s needed on both sides.

Q: On the U.S. side, the cross-border project would involve construction of the terminal in Otay Mesa and the binational bridge. What needs to happen on the Mexican side?

A: The Tijuana airport is simply adapting its facilities and facilitating the connection to the bridge. We’re going to invest more than $14.5 million to expand the airport’s existing international terminal.